In-depth, Independent Research
Need to know more about a prospective tenant, employee, client, or boss? People search and background check services make it possible for you to obtain records from many different sources to get information on people you need to know more about. These services go beyond the basic information offered by so-called free people search and background check services to provide genuinely useful data like income, criminal searches, bankruptcy records, and full address histories. We've used and reviewed the top companies in the background search field, testing and verifying each service by researching two individuals. Check out our comparison chart below to see where each service shined. For additional questions on people search/background check services, see our FAQ.
People Search and Background Checks
Updated 05-03-2013
| Service Name & Rating: | Report Price: | Information Included: | Best For: | Depth Grade: | Accuracy Grade: | Bottom Line: |
 | Basic: $1.95 Advanced: $49.95 | Basic: Full name, birthdate, address, phone number, home value, relatives, income Advanced: Address history, marriage, state criminal check, bankruptcy, property, income | Bankruptcy info, criminal checks | A | A | The most comprehensive service in terms of depth and accuracy, though results could be more focused |
 | $49.95 | Address history, lawsuits, sex offender check, judgments, liens, phone numbers, marriage/divorce, national and federal criminal check, fictitious business names, partial SSNs | Bankruptcy info, partial SSNs, fictitious business names | B | B | Fairly comprehensive, includes federal and state criminal searches, though the latter is limited to certain jurisdictions |
 | $39.95 | Address history, lawsuits, sex offender check, judgments, liens, phone numbers, marriage/divorce, state criminal check | Address history, property details | B | B | Good price and easy to read, detailed info on bankruptcies, but not as good with criminal check |
 | Contact: $1.95 Background: $39.95 | Contact: Full name, birth date, address, phone number, prior residences Background: Relatives, neighbors, criminal check, bankruptcies, judgments, liens, businesses, properties, work | Address history, property details | B | C | Fun, attractive user interface; good for basic info, less accurate for background checks |
 | People Search: $7.95-15.95/mo. for unlimited searches Who's Searching for You: $7.95-15.95/mo. | People Search: phone number, address, relatives & associates, previous locations, social networks, education, work, "life events" Who's Searching for You: MyLife profile, location, date | Finding out who's searching for you | C | B+ | Who's Searching for You product is unique and useful, but People Search falls short |
 | Basic: $1.95; $0.95 w/ trial Advanced: $49.95; $39.95 w/ trial Monthly: $14.95 first mo, then $24.95/mo | Basic: Name, phone number, address, A.K.A.s, relatives Advanced: Address history, lawsuits, sex offender check, judgments, liens, phone numbers, marriage/divorce, nationwide criminal check | Associates | C | C | Good price for check with nationwide criminal search, but it missed many things in our tests |
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